Blueberry Lemon Chocolate Cake
by Skipper1318
Summary: Chell hasn't heard much from Aperture since she had escaped. But on the anniversary of it, a letter from there comes in, saying that Aperture needs her help, but what for? What does the AI have in store for her this time? Will she ever return back to the life she had constructed for herself?
1. Chapter 1: Chocolate

It's been a year, a year since she left Aperture. A full 365 days. It felt unrealistic, so very much. It felt even more since the massive AI, messaged through mail, and had called a truce. Fairly out of character of GLaDOS, but she probably didn't want to get murdered again. Chell had agreed, and that was the last she had heard from Aperture.

Chell stepped out onto her well-manicured lawn in front of her white house. The grass was an almost fluorescent green, and reflected the morning sun's light into her eyes. Chell, wearing a white tank top and jeans, blocked her eyes from the harsh light before continuing her journey, destination mailbox. She liked checking early in the morning, her mind being more optimistic then. So she walked up to the white mailbox, wet grass squelching underneath her suede-clad feet. The little stark blood red flag was up, declaring that she had something in there, important or not, it stayed up. So, she opened up the little lid with a rusty squeak and reached inside and grabbed a handful of the printed papers. She drew it out, and gave it a good look over.

Top one was junk, not surprising, advertising about wrinkle-cream. Ew. She put the letter in the back and checked the next. Junk. Next was junk, and the next. Paycheck, good.

As she shuffled through the letters, her mind went into autopilot and a thought came to her mind. Maybe she should visit GLaDOS. That was almost immediately shot down, but some small part of it rethought it over. She probably wouldn't want to see her back. She sang a whole song about getting rid of her. Besides, the large supercomputer had only followed her word the once, so the truce may not hold. Besides the fact she was basically getting rid of a danger to her facility.

Also, she didn't know how the place could affect her emotionally. She had only just gotten over the random bursts of adrenaline that she felt when she saw something that reminded her of there. One time she had tipped over a whole rack of toilet paper rolls because she could have sworn it was a turret. Not to mention children, apples, lemons, fire… Not to mention the fact that she had constant nightmare flashbacks of the whole incident, and still had them

She definitely didn't want to have those back.

Junk, junk, junk, letter, junk…

Wait, letter?

She went back through her pile of mail in her hand until she got to the specific envelope, yellowed instead of the usual stark white. It was emblazoned in the corner with the signature black Aperture insignia, she noted with slight suspicion. The sent address was hers, so it wasn't just an accidental send. The return address was replaced with the Aperture insignia, and the stamp was a bird with the three wiggly lines through it.

The envelope smelled musty and faintly of iron, like Old Aperture. It was probably where the envelope came from since Modern Aperture was completely electronically-based.

Chell felt as if the rest of the neighborhood was watching her every move as she stared down at the envelope from that place she would rather put behind her. Why did she want to return again to visit that AI? She was going insane, probably gained Stockholm syndrome. But now this was replaced by a nauseous feeling as bile rose up her throat.

She decided she needed a seat, and quickly shut the mailbox and dropped the rest of the letters, not waiting for them to hit the ground. She tried to keep from running so not to arouse suspicion, but her walk ended up brisk and urgent. Her breath was coming in hitches as she walked up the familiar paved driveway and to the bright blue chipped wooden door. She quickly opened it, walked in, and then kicked it closed with her foot. She started opening it with shaking hands as she walked and sat onto her favorite worn dark chair. She ripped the letter from the bowls from the envelope, and opened it up.

Dear [SUBJECT NAME HERE],

If you have received this letter, than Aperture Science is in some form of great danger. Possibly mantis men, mutated spiders, zombies, etcetera. Anyway, since you have received this letter, you must be a trusted part of this corporation, or used to be. If you happen to be dead and receive this, please disregard it completely. We do not yet have the money to start our future research into ghosts and zombies, so your presence is not needed and not welcome. Besides the fact that all the crybabies that make up the office staff would quit if any hauntings or zombie attacks started up. Report ASAP to Aperture Science for the future could be in jeopardy.

There was a signature, and printed below with some lettering before the name in dark red as if a sudden edit was

**FORMER** CEO of Aperture Science,

Cave Johnson

Chell stared at the letter in confusion. All of her worry for something that was made years ago? She had no idea how the mailing service worked, but she had doubts that GLaDOS would send this out. Maybe one of the bots accidently sent it?

Or she was too busy to actually write a letter because she was actually dealing with a threat.

Well, the decision to go back had been made for her, and she now regretted wanting to go in the first place. She could just not go…

But what if this threat escaped from Aperture? The fate of the whole world was a bit more important than her. She would definitely feel at fault if the world ended because of her own negligence.

So with a reluctant sigh and sense of dread rising from her stomach, she slowly let the chair relinquish its hold upon her as she stood on shaky legs. The former test subject slowly looked about the room, realizing that she may never see it again. May never sit in the old chair or see the familiar blank walls.

She slowly walked into her room, breathing in its familiar scent as she opened up the wooden closet near the doorway. IF she was returning, she would need the right equipment.

It didn't take long to find, the contents of the closet little and the fabric's color definitely helped.

It was her old orange jumpsuit, the Aperture insignia emblazoned on the chest. It had definitely gone through some wear and tear. Burns from turret bullets almost missed and holes from when they hit that had light red staining no matter how much she scrubbed at it. The knees were darkened from the constant sliding about and some small splatters of white, orange and blue that had refused to come out. A little bit below the knee it was completely clean from being tucked into the long fall boots, a brilliant stark orange.

She pulled out the white Aperture tank top, which had suffered less than the jumpsuit, but still had its wear and tear.

She took off her old clothes quickly, and then slipped on the old familiar ones that seemed to fit her just right. It was strange to be back in them again, and she had a faint feeling of nostalgia. She crouched low and reached back into the closet's interior. She latched onto the metallic object and pulled it out.

They were the long fall boots, which had cleaned off a lot better than the rest of the clothes. A sterile white like it was new. The heel string though was bent from the constant use it had gone through, but as she slipped them on and tightened them, worked fine.

Chell stood on her feet, and took an experimental walk around the room to get used to the boots again. It was like riding a bike, and it only took a little bit until she was used to them again.

With a slight nod, she looked to the Companion Cube and considered bringing it. It was a great ally, but it would probably slow her down, especially since it was heavy to carry without the ASPHD helping.

But since she didn't have the gun, she would need more defenses, which the cube could help with.

With a little bit more deliberating, Chell decided to leave the cube there.

She slowly walked back to her door, checking her surroundings again as she again realized she may never come back. With her heart a heavy chunk in her throat and with a sense of finality, she stepped out of the worn door, letter tightly clutched in hand. She pulled it close, and pulling a key from the planter, locked it. She placed the key back in a deliberate fashion, and then turned around. She put her head up high, and started the long walk back to the place she swore she would never return to again, hoping that she would return back to her tranquil little home soon.

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**A/N: This is a 4 chapter story that has already been typed all the way out. Updates every Saturday, and may at some point have an Epilogue. Constructive-Criticism is much appreciated as it can help this author become better. Please Enjoy!**

**Also, I made the cover photo, please no stealing.**


	2. Chapter 2: Lemon

Chell arrived at the old shack with a small gulp; she waved off the nice driver who had driven her to this point.

He waved and pulled away, leaving Chell alone with her worst fear. She stared apprehensively at the old warn shack, remembering stumbling out of there into the golden wheat fields and blue skies.

That same wheat now brushed up against her legs, attempting to tickle her well covered body as if to wish farewell to her. The rusty shack stood up from the fields of yellow, stark in contrast because of the flatness even if it was so small. Such a tame innocent thing that hides the beast inside. Horribly contradictory, and if anything did come out of there, that shack wouldn't hold up.

With her will resolved, she walked up to the shack, apprehensiveness teething at the back of her mind. As she walked up, the old shack seemed to loom over her cheatingly. She reached out to the door, fingers brushing upon the smooth worn door. She was knocked out of her reverie by a large click that shook the door, Chell immediately retracting her hand from it.

There was the whirring of gears, slowly getting louder and louder and thunderous. The old test subject took a step back as the noise reached a crescendo…

There was a ding, and the metal door swung open on rusty creaking hinges.

A stark clean elevator sat there, glass doors opening as a warm beckoning to an old friend.

It was empty and waiting as she stared at it, heart thumping in her throat even through the calmness of the scene.

With a shuddered breath, she dropped her hand, note clenched tightly in her sweaty fist. With a deep breath to steel her nerves and a raise of her chin of dignity, she stepped in.

The doors whisked closed behind her and she whipped around to watch as the last light of freedom disappeared as she went down into the earthly-yet sterile smelling facility. She dully noted the thump as the door closed as she finally realized what she had just thrown away.

She shook her head to clear it and watched as layers of earth passed by. Her nerves were only going to get worse as she got worse to the beast, but she needed to be calm and collected if she wanted to fix whatever the heck is wrong and get out alive.

As she went through the layers of rock, she noticed that the glass reflected like a mirror towards her.

She had filled out a bit since last time, her once starved-self that could count her own ribs now looked healthy and less pale. Her once hallowed cheekbones and eyes also were now less prominent, and her steely eyes weren't bloodshot from lack of sleep. But she was back in the cursed jumpsuit and her healthy look could change in almost an instant. And that was what scared her; deep down inside that she would return to the surface world exactly the same as last time.

Suddenly she passed by a seemingly large empty room. There was a small platform that was raised in the front of layers and layers of flooring, each surrounding circularly in front of the elevator.

The ghostly tune teased her in her head, dancing around in the foreign language that she simply could not understand, Latin.

A dead language for someone she had sincerely thought she would live the rest of her days without encountering her again.

Well, surprise.

Her fists clenched as she noticed the sudden appearance of black cables as she arrived into her chamber.

The lights were dim, and the yellow glow of the supercomputer's optic seemed menacing as she watched her approach.

Chell felt her breath hitch as it stopped in front of the massive AI, muscles clenching and her head screaming to run away. She slowly studied her.

She was cleaner than when they has last seen each other, the natural grime and small cracks that covered the mainframe and her faceplate now filled in and shining just like new. Her wires were even clean, and the former test subject asked mentally how she managed to do that with no hands.

The room was still the same gray panels, floor to ceiling, and the one spontaneous light hanging near her casting even more dark shadows upon her.

She seemed apprehensive, yet curious, coiled back slightly with her head cocked to the side.

"So, you decided to come." Chell had almost forgotten how loud her voice was, shaking the chamber slightly and shocking her.

Hesitantly, the rather nervous human took the leap and went out the elevator with a small nod to the AI's question. Her body posture straightened back out, no backing out now, and returned to its usual confident position.

"Well, let me just say that it seems you managed to gain more mass. Science said it wasn't possible in the case that the gravitational pull of your stomach would have caused you to collapse into yourself, but once again you managed to do the impossible. Congratulations." The AI returned to her normal coiled snake position, the sarcasm probably making her feel better or something. Chell didn't know, she wasn't the one that built the homicidal computer in front of her.

Besides, GLaDOS was rather huge in comparison to… anyone!

Chell just decided to roll her eyes, the supercomputer hadn't changed much.

Before the AI could have possibly continued her little snarky fest, the human flattened out the letter and waved it as a reminder to why she was actually there.

"Oh yes, that." GLaDOS seemed a bit disappointed, but continued on in one that sounded more questioning," Are you _sure _you're ready for this mission? It's the most dangerous on file, nobody has survived it. You may not even be lucky enough to get out with your life."

Chell had decided long ago, and she gave a determined nod.

"I don't think you understand what I mean, the food may have possibly clogged any surviving brain function."

She decided to ignore the little comment, and nodded once again.

"The whole of Aperture lies in the balance. This is make or break, either you do this or everything drowns in eternal chaos. Are you _**sure**_?"

The former test subject was getting a bit tired of the AI's dramatic antics. Aperture may be bad, and she had to admit, it probably had that kind of power, but the way she was acting was obviously supposed to be melodramatic. She decided to act like she was thinking for a while so as not to be asked again, and then nodded.

The AI sighed and nodded back.

"You"

Chell leaned forward in suspense.

"Will have to"

She leaned even closer.

"Bake a cake."

Chell face palmed, the smack resounding around the chamber.

"If you wanted to harm yourself, you could have just asked. I would have happily obliged to help."

The human shook her head no, removing her hand from her now red face.

Well, it could have been _much_ worse.

"Since this mission is quite dangerous, and as to kill two birds with one well-aimed lemon, I have assigned you a guide."

Chell gave her a quizzical look.

"It's your old friend."

"Ow!" a spherical object had dropped harshly from the ceiling, emitting a voice the former test subject recognized all too well. It wiggled and turned towards Chell.

Blue.

"That shocked look on your face coupled with the red handprint should earn you the most ridiculous human ever award. Also, flies may eggs in there."

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**A/N: Apoligies for the late update. Business coupled with spontaneous breaking Wi-Fi leads to posting 4 days late. Good news is that you will technically be left in a cliffhanger shorter from Chapter 3**

**Thanks for all the favs and alerts, it is much appreciated to know people are interested in more. Constructive Criticism will be much appreciated and will make this author a better author. Next chapter will be, hopefully, coming out on Saturday Still.**

**Hope you enjoy!**


	3. Chapter 3: Blueberry

"I-I'm sorry!" Wheatley repeated once again, staring to really grate upon Chell's nerves, "I-I didn't mean to! I swear! I'm so so sorry! I was so… evil, and mean. I wanted to kill you and I wanted to test. The itch- I am so so sorry!" he blabbered in an emotional breakdown. If he was human he would be sobbing and his tears would probably have made a river by then.

The human gave him a glare. Out of all the things she expected to find from returning to Aperture, he was really low on her list. Space seemed like somewhere that someone wouldn't be able to escape from if completely abandoned. And she sincerely didn't mind the thought that she may not see him ever again.

"I can still pull myself in! I can still fix this!" the voice echoed in her mind, making her subconsciously grit her teeth.

Wheatley finally gave up, his optic hanging low in defeat, "Let's just get this over with. It's obvious you'll never forgive me." he mumbled with a melodramatic sniffle. He looked to her with slight expectancy, but she wouldn't budge. He sighed and turned to the recipe book.

It hadn't been too long of a walk to the kitchen, considering the miles of expanse of facility it could have been in. Although the rambling of the core made it seem like forever. When she had entered, she wasn't surprised to find a large, sterile, shining steel kitchen with industrial sized, well everything. There was probably an assembly line for food considering the size of Aperture and how many people there would need to be to watch over everything.

She had immediately checked where everything was, and found the cabinets stocked with dry foods and non-perishables along with spices. There were cooking supplies in one and utensils in the other, all shining clean and ready for use. In the corner sat a fridge, only stocked with supplies that needed to be refrigerated for the cake. Anything else was probably thrown out from going bad.

There was a cookbook that had been set out on the counter by the time they were there, propped up with Sherlock Holmes books and turned specifically to the recipe for a black forest cake.

Wheatley was over by it now, studying the contents," First ingredient is… flour. And that should be in…" Wheatley pondered, looking about the large kitchen for any clues. He looked to the human with a sheepish smile on his shutters.

Chell sighed and pointed her thumb at the cabinet she had found the substance in during her sweep. He nodded a quick thanks and rushed over to the said cabinet, gears whirring from the sudden stress on the rail. He slowed to the stop and looked up at the tall cabinet, his management rail actually hanging from the ceiling so it was above him quite a ways, but thankfully he was attached to his arm.

He looked to her once again," Any help lady?"

She shook her head no, a small smile playing across her lips before it returned to its normal stone cold expression.

"Thanks a lot", he mumbled quietly, returning back to the cabinet. He lifted his arm up to it, and wedged his handle firmly in-between the grip of the cabinet and the door of it. He grunted and began to tug back on the steel cabinet, his gears shrieking in protest to the force. He leaned back, eye shutters closed in pure concentration upon the task.

The cabinet shot open, the force tugging on the core's handle and almost sending him off his rail and to the rather hard-looking floor. Thankfully, his handle had gotten un-lodged from the sudden force, but it sent him into a quick spin that left him disoriented.

Wheatley turned back around to the cabinet, feeling proud of the small accomplishment. He was just about to boast, but the urge extinguished as he noted the position of the flour bag. It happened to be precariously perched on the peak shelf in the peculiar steel cabinet. He gave a shout of outrage

Chell suppressed a chuckle as she saw the core, and then a small silent laugh as she noticed how high the flour was. He was going to have hell trying to get that down, if he even could. The sudden anger sent her into a pit of quick silent laughter that was quickly extinguished. She put a hand to her mouth to try to keep from laughing as his arm even extended further and further up.

Wheatley could touch the white package with his handle now. Perfect! He was so close he-Wait, why did he stop moving up?

He glanced down at the metal arm to note that it was fully extended. The only way now was back to the rail.

He turned back to the bag, and an idea formed in his processor. He nodded to himself, "Worth a shot."

He hit the bag lightly with his handle, quickly glancing up to see its affects. The bag had rocked backward, then forward again before settling back into the position it was in earlier.

"Ah, almost got it!"

Success, he knocked it again, and this time when it came back he gave it a more forceful push. It rocked back farther, almost tipping over, and then came back and started to tip over the ledge.

Wheatley, quick as a ball-shaped robot could be, lowered himself into a position to catch the package.

It began to fall; the two watched its descent.

Wheatley could almost taste victory.

"I got it! I got-"

He was suddenly in a large cloud of white that seemed to be everywhere. Chell couldn't even see him through the densely packed white particles as it surrounded him.

Wheatley couldn't see a bloody thing. His whole vision was filled with a bright white and he almost thought he had gone blind.

He felt something somewhat heavy resting on his core, and of course his first instinct was to shake it off. The core felt the object slide off his metal casing and hit the floor with a heavy thump.

The cloud of white finally settled, the robot being surprisingly quiet throughout the whole ordeal.

Wheatley looked fairly startled, his optic wide and his whole core covered in a thick layer of flour. The flour package was on the floor, spilling its contents onto the pristine steel.

The former test subject began laughing again at the shocked robot, keeling over silently while grabbing her gut. She could barely breathe! But he looked so ridiculous!

The core got fairly angry at the human, "OH, having a good laugh then? At ol' Wheatley's expense. You know what? You could have at least helped. Just a little bit… This wouldn't have happened if you had even tried! But noo… Leave Wheatley to do all your dirty work, while you just sit back and sit on your gigantic arse and watch!"

Wheatley's casing shook lightly with anger, which Chell didn't notice because she was currently trying to reteach herself to breathe normally.

His anger grew larger, and his optic removed into a slit, "ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING!"

He watched some white drift down from him from his chaotic shaking, and a dastardly plan formed in his processor. It almost looked like he smiled.

He rolled over quietly to the half-dying human, almost giddy with the thought of what he was about to do.

This is what happens when you mess with Wheatley…

He gave a dark chuckle before releasing the straw to break the camel's back.

He rattled his casing about, moving every which way with his optic and insides to jingle it about even more.

It produced a large racket, which made Chell look up, mouth open as she attempted to draw oxygen. Her smile immediately dropped as the powder dropped onto her unsuspecting self.

Another white cloud appeared, exploding in all directions. The old test subject breathed some in and set into a coughing fit to try to get the persistent particles out of her throat.

The second cloud settled just like the first, and the shocked human looked up to the core with surprise.

And he immediately began laughing at her, "Your face! Your face love!" his laughter was loud and uproarious," You should see your face! It looks absolutely ridiculous!" he continued laughing.

Chell sat there in complete shock, and then a smile slowly started growing on her face, accompanied by some evil quiet chuckles.

Quick as a whip, she jumped up from the white floor, a clear area from where her body had protected it. She picked up the fallen bag that was currently spilling its contents on the floor. The human secured it in one arm while grabbing a fistful of flour in her other.

Wheatley watched her, a confused optic greeting her wildly grinning face. She raised the fist up menacingly.

"What are you-"he was cut off as it hit him square in the optic.

There were a couple moments of silence before he began panicking.

"I'M BLIND!" he screeched as he suddenly began whizzing around on his management rail, furiously blinking to try to get the substance off. So far it wasn't working too well for him.

Chell started her silent laughing again, doubled over as she watched the core panic in an extreme fashion.

Wheatley, oblivious to her laughing, suddenly was attacked from the side by a solid metal object. The force sent him off his rail and onto the cold unforgiving floor, making him yelp at the sudden two contacts.

The loud bang almost deafened the girl, but the knock from the floor managed to get most of the substance off of his blue optic. There was still a bit stuck in the crack in it, but otherwise he could see as well as earlier.

The arm grabbed him up from the floor, forcefully pulling him back into it.

"Aperture Science would like to remind employees that unplugging the cores' in a possibly dangerous setting for their wires can lead to being fired. Please keep them plugged in at all times." The announcer shut off quickly, but the two were too cut off in an intense staring contest to particularly notice.

"It. Is. On!" Wheatley charged for the unsuspecting human, preparing his chassis for another good shaking.

The former test subject dodged to the side as she narrowly missed the shower of white particles.

Wheatley turned and started after her again as she sprinted to her next destination, the fridge. Wheatley was too caught up in chasing her to notice her path's lining.

She grabbed another handful of flour, spinning around to rapidly deliver another handful of whiteness before continuing her journey to the fridge.

He was hit in the side of his casing, but he decided to ignore it so to continue after her. Chell turned to give him a grin, which he returned back as they raced.

Chell obviously got there first, a little more flour on her from her short delay. She huffed while opening the fridge.

The robot didn't notice the smile that graced her face, the porcelain carton pulled from the depths of the cold machine, or the way she opened it and turned to him with something else white caught in her hand.

He was currently laughing triumphantly, boasting his latest success. All she managed to catch before she closed the fridge and threw was.

"I win, you-"

Smack

Chell grinned at her success, goop now covering the front of Wheatley.

He haughtily laughed," You're going to-"

Smack

More goop dripped down him, leaving a small puddle on the floor which slowly gained more ooze.

"Would you jus-"

Smack

"Let me-"

Smack

"TALK!"

There was a pause, Chell seemed like she was about to listen.

"Thank you, now-"

Smack.

The human laughed at the core, dropping the carton to the floor, which thankfully the rest of the eggs remained intact. She grabbed for her midsection.

She was pretty sure she had never laughed so much in a day.

Wheatley took the chance to once again roll over her and shake. The goopy eggs and flour mixture oozed off him and dolloped onto the back of her head, the mess probably going to be hard to clean from her hair later.

The girl gave an evil smirk, and grabbed the carton near her while slowly looking up.

Wheatley realized his mistake.

/

Their food-fight lasted for what felt like forever to the both of them, she tossing whatever she could find in the cabinets and him taking her moments of distraction to get some of it on her.

After a long while, the former test subject ended up lying on the messy floor, its once pristine surface now covered in a good amount of food-based grime. She sighed in happiness, silently giggling at the damage she had done to the robot. It almost looked like hell decided to give him a makeover.

Wheatley was chuckling lightly at her appearance as well, the mixture of foods absolutely caking her upper torso area while the lower ones got less of the force. Her face and hair though…

"Well, I'm ba- What the hell happened here?!" the supercomputer almost deafened them, using the camera to look about the utterly decimated room. Nothing had been saved. Nothing.

Chell began laughing again at her reaction, imagining the look she probably had.

Wheatley's blue optic shrunk as he laughed, still slightly nervous of the massive machine's presence.

As he should be, the queen noted.

"You two had better clean this up and make that cake or you'll both be having a nice long stay in Android Hell. I've already booked a special place in there just for the both of you. You're welcome!" the supercomputer clicked off and sighed. This is what happens when you put two mice in a cage together. The problem isn't solved, it just ends up multiplying. What was she going to do with those two pests?

/

The duo looked about the kitchen, a sudden dread creeping up on the both as they realized how long it was going to take to get it back to its once pristine condition. Every corner, nook, and cranny…

"Well, you have fun with that. I have to go… help… my grandma with her… shopping?" Wheatley was about to rush off and leave the human, but the firm grip she suddenly had on his handle kept him from it. It was soggy, and goo dripped down her arm.

He turned towards her, "But-"

She shook her head no with a stern expression, which he sighed at.

Another idea hit the core as he looked at her appearance.

"I have an idea…" he gave his cohort a dark smirk with his blue optic, who gave him a raised eyebrow.

"She'll never know what hit her!"

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**A/N: Thanks for all the favs and follows! It shows that people are still interested in this story. Thanks to .14 for the reciew, and I'm glad ya like it and that the twist was unexpected!**

**Hope you liked the new chapter, the last and probably final one will be coming Saturday. Maybe an Epilogue? I'm still not sure about that. Anyways, Constructive Criticism will be much appreciated, and make this author a better author.**

**Once again I hope you liked the chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4: Cake

The two looked to each other rather proudly as they regarded the now-shining kitchen. They had managed to get every corner and cranny of the place into sparkling glory, Wheatley even helping with a sponge tied to his handle. And now it was done, the two had gotten cleaned up, the cake was sitting there in all its glory… and all they had to do next was decorate it!

"Cherries are it love! We're almost done! Then we can…" Wheatley paused for a moment, gazing off into nothing," What's going to happen after this? Is she just going to let us go or… Ooooh no. This could be very bad, EXTREMELY bad!"

Chell paused her recent search through the fridge, and looked to him. She thought for a moment, biting her lip, before giving a shrug. They'll jump that hurdle when they get to it, she guessed. She returned to her work as the AI just sighed before wheeling over to the cake.

It was a black forest cake, covered in chocolate frosting with a lone candle stuck in the middle of it. It looked so barren, so decoration would help. Somewhere deep inside the core's processor asked what it was even for anyways. He shoved the bit of code to the side as he heard a slight groan form behind him. He turned to the sound to only find the former test subject setting two plastic containers of lemons and blueberries on the counter.

"Uh, lady. It said cherries, not lemons and blueberries." He noted, looking to her with confusion.

Chell gestured to the fruit, and then made a wide sweeping gesture to the entire kitchen.

She was quite thankful that the core picked it up right away.

"There… aren't any."

She nodded.

"Well, these'll have to do." He gave his equivalent of a shrug as he watched the subject nod again and pick up the fruits. They headed to the counter, and he watched her delicately place the lemons in a ring around the candle. The blueberries were separated and put around the edge.

"So, the cake's fine, right?" Wheatley piped up.

Chell looked to him with a serious expression, and then nodded.

"Good, perfect, actually!"

The two gave the other a dark grin.

"Let's do this"

/

"Oh good, you finished. Congratulations, you managed to complete the job without maiming yourself violently or dying." GLaDOS greeted the two as they walked in, confetti raining from the ceiling as she spoke, the human quickly hitting out any that would have possibly landed on the cake," What did that confetti ever do to you?"

Chell decided to ignore the comment and walk forward with the cake, Wheatley following next to her head on a recently built management rail. The flame flickered dangerously, but stayed strong.

"Anyway, thank you for completing the Aperture Science cognitive brain function task. You managed to complete what no others have done with only one major accident. Once again, Bravo. Please put the cake on this panel, and then you may go and do whatever it is you do in the outside world. Probably not science or anything."

"The accident? Pfft. What accident? Definitely one that's not going to be repeated as one. Hehe… Seriously not happening again!"

The former test subject glared at the core, whom gave a nervous smile and stopped talking.

The human sat the cake warily on the panel, looking to Wheatley, who gave a short nod. She stayed directly in front of it though, almost face to face with the massive AI.

"Good. We would like to thank you for furthering the cause of science. Now please get out of my facility."

Chell suddenly grabbed a chunk of the cake in her hand, the other doing the same so as to put it on top of Wheatley.

"What are you two-"

The AI was shocked to find her vision being destroyed by the chocolaty goodness that was supposed to further science.

Some plopped down onto her head from above, laughter joining it as the two probably were proud of their work.

"You know that spot in Android Hell I saved for you two?" she asked quietly, almost mouse-like.

"I think the reservations are about to expire." The wall behind her opened up, panels folding away to show a large storage of food. Some claws came from the ceiling and reached in, picking up anything in reach.

Chell grabbed the cake and took a couple steps back from the large machine, breath catching in her throat. Why on earth did she decide to listen to the thing that was supposed to make bad ideas?

Wheatley rolled back on his rail," Y'know? I would love to stay and fill those reservations in Android Hell… but I have a date with- uhh… Space Core?" he attempted to whiz away, but his exit was immediately blocked by panels.

"You're not going anywhere." The AI gave a lowly laugh.

Chell gave him an incredulous look while he looked panicked.

Smaller claws came from the ceiling, picking specifics from the large pile of held food. One was thrown at the two, Chell and Wheatley dodging out of its path.

It was a couple containers of spices, which shattered upon impact and left a little cloud. Chell coughed as the powder caught in her throat, burning and itching and making her eyes water.

Chell rubbed at her eyes with her free hand, the destroyed cake weighing heavily in the other. She quickly looked up to see raw chicken be thrown once again at herself and the core.

Wheatley rolled away from it and looked about for some ammunition. Finding none that he could carry, he then promptly decided to aid the human.

With another cough, she was already off and running towards the mainframe, throat still burning but objective set in stone. The former test subject grabbed another handful of the chocolate, lemon juice squeezing out between her fingers.

The AI, who was formerly focused on the blue-eyed core, noticed Chell too late, and got another smear on her faceplate. She growled dangerously low as the grinning human mischievously darted towards the kitchen.

Panels immediately went up to block her passage, the former test subject almost running right into them. She went to run around them, but more came up to block her passage.

The core went to follow and somehow help her, but was halted by a renegade melon.

Chell looked back and had to duck a sailing turkey leg. She got back up immediately and looked back up at the wall of panels. An idea flashed through her, it could work, or not.

GLaDOS would have grinned if she could have, but she instead gave a small laugh. She had her just where she wanted her. Her claw dove for the kitchen, rifling through the cabinets until she found her perfect weapon. She raised the maple syrup up high, ready for an explosive launch. She would never be able to get this out of her hair!

The human readied her arm, flattening the plate of the cake in one arm. She could fantly see the mainframe's wires, but that was enough for her aim. She leaned back, then threw herself and the cake forward.

Wheatley narrowly dodged the flying cake," Oy, careful! You almost hit me!"

The massive robot ad already released her specialty, and it arced in the air towaards the subject.

Almost in slow motion, the small core witnessed what would probably only happen this once. Cake splattered onto the AI and syrup oozed onto the test subject.

And the panels lowered as they stared at each other hostilely.

Chell began to snicker, covering her mouth with one hand as she looked at the cake-smeared AI. Wheatley followed suit, case rattling as his voice processor shook his being.

GLaDOS glared at Chell, and then slowly turned to Wheatley. Suddenly a small laugh hiccupped out of her system, and she whipped back in what seemed like shock. She stared at the ground before meeting their gazes once again, their laughter dying down. They all looked to each other.

Chell heard wooshing behind her, and she turned away from the mainframe to find the elevator once again own. She grinned in hope, could she really be letting them go? After all that.

"Deadly Neurotoxin Emitters Online."

Her smile dropped like as tone as the vents began to slowly pump out the green gas. She gave the AI a look or really-know? The AI returned thus with a smirk, before coiling back.

"Get out of my facility." her voice dripped with artificial sweetness that hid hostility.

Chell looked to Wheatley, and bit her lip. Did she really want to, after all that happened…

With a sigh, she resignedly put out her arms.

"What are you doing? You should be leaving! In that elevator right now or else she'll…: he trailed off and started staring at her, "You… want to take me with you?" he seemed disbelieving.

She nodded and cocked her head with a smile, the smell of neurotoxin making her really want to speed this up.

"I- after everything I've done to you. You still…"

The human once again nodded, starting to get a little impatient with his sentiments.

"I- thanks." he gave a smile with his optic, and dropped from his management rail. She cupped her arms, almost crumpling from the sudden weight. She winced and shifted him before jogging to the elevator. The doors closed behind her and she turned.

GLaDOS was silent as the elevator rose, but the former test subject thought she could faintly hear her say,"Good Luck." It was probably her imagination, but she smiled softly, re-adjusting her grip on the core once again.

"We're actually leaving." the core said breathlessly as they passed through the earth. He looked up to her," And after all that happened, you still took me? Why?"

Chell looked off in thought, before shrugging. The elevator rose and rose, and the core's optic flicked about nervously.

The elevator slowed to a stop, the familiar door opening with a faint hiss. She stepped out of the elevator, a sense of deja-vu washing over her. As the light blinded the both of them and fields of gold waved in the wind, she took in a deep breath and sighed. The crystal blue sky and bright sun was now back and would stay.

Wheatley was silent and looking about in wonder, and excitement. He gasped at the sights and the sounds.

And they left for home.

* * *

**A/N Thank you for reading BLCK! Hope you liked the last chapter, or is it really?**

**Still considering an epilogue, what do you guys think? Thanks for the favs and follows, this story actually has more follows than any of my others, which I will take as a good thing! Once again, constructive criticism will still be appreciated, and let me know if you want me to do an epilogue! **

**Hope you liked all the story!**


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